Tag Archives: The Bodhisatta As Kassapa

271. The Bodhisatta As Kassapa

Once upon a time prince Brahmadatta, son of Brahmadatta king of Benares, and the son of his family priest named Kassapa, were schoolmates and learned all the sciences in the house of the same teacher. By and bye the young prince on his father’s death was established in the kingdom. Kassapa thought, “My friend has become king. he will bestow great power on me. what have I to do with power? I will take leave of the king and my parents, and become an ascetic.” So he went into the Himalayas and adopted the religious life, and on the seventh day he entered on the Faculties and Attainments, and gained his living by what he gleaned in the fields. And men nicknamed the ascetic Lomasakassapa (Hairy Kassapa).